Tundrawolf
Active member
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2018
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 3
Hello,
A little back story, I have a 99 Dodge Ram Van 1500 I decided to turn into a camper van, I put a Santana camper topper (Like in Napoleon Dynamite) from a 77 Chevy van on it, cut the roof off, add solar, a sun deck, water, toilet and septic, inverter, etc.
One day I decided to spend a weekend in it parked on the back 40 of the ranch I live on, and a weekend ended up turning into the better part of a year. I loved it. I broke the 32" TV and ended up using a 50" TV that ended up working out very well. I sleep on the top portion very well. I use a combo of the sun and a small inverter generator to power it, and refill the water tanks and dump septic every few weeks.
I thought I could get by without doing anything about the condensation, but I believe it ended up turning to mold. Endless coughing and sneezing, brain fog, insomnia, etc, now that I am out of the van all of that has cleared up. But I want to go back into the van. Previously the van was a work van and subjected all sorts of glues, industrial solvents, so the carpet was pretty much ruined before hand anyway.
I tore it all out, even the foam. Under the foam there was water. I am going to treat it for mold.
Previously I had a captains chair in the back on a plate steel that wasn't bolted to anything. She suggested a ton of pillows so her and I can snuggle. I like the idea! I don't care if the chair goes bye-bye and it may give me more room. I am also going to be removing the two brackets for the chairs as they were a pain in the butt and this is no longer a passenger van.
But, what about the floor? I need something waterproof, like if I spill 14 gallons in there I do not have to worry about the water going under the flooring and becoming mold (again). I like the idea of carpet for how it feels on bare feet, however, I realize carpet is NOT suited for my daily living, and honestly if i put a rug in there and covered it in pillows that's pretty awesome, too.
Any ideas on a truly waterproof flooring? Should I fill the floor corrugations with floor leveler and seal it with some kind of floor sealer? Drill holes in the floor for drainage? My water tank recently sprung a leak and I suddenly had gallons of water soaking into everything so that is a possibility and I have no room down below for an underside tank.
Any help is appreciated... And is there a good way to seal the plywood I have holding the top of the topper to the bottom section? I think there is mold there.
A little back story, I have a 99 Dodge Ram Van 1500 I decided to turn into a camper van, I put a Santana camper topper (Like in Napoleon Dynamite) from a 77 Chevy van on it, cut the roof off, add solar, a sun deck, water, toilet and septic, inverter, etc.
One day I decided to spend a weekend in it parked on the back 40 of the ranch I live on, and a weekend ended up turning into the better part of a year. I loved it. I broke the 32" TV and ended up using a 50" TV that ended up working out very well. I sleep on the top portion very well. I use a combo of the sun and a small inverter generator to power it, and refill the water tanks and dump septic every few weeks.
I thought I could get by without doing anything about the condensation, but I believe it ended up turning to mold. Endless coughing and sneezing, brain fog, insomnia, etc, now that I am out of the van all of that has cleared up. But I want to go back into the van. Previously the van was a work van and subjected all sorts of glues, industrial solvents, so the carpet was pretty much ruined before hand anyway.
I tore it all out, even the foam. Under the foam there was water. I am going to treat it for mold.
Previously I had a captains chair in the back on a plate steel that wasn't bolted to anything. She suggested a ton of pillows so her and I can snuggle. I like the idea! I don't care if the chair goes bye-bye and it may give me more room. I am also going to be removing the two brackets for the chairs as they were a pain in the butt and this is no longer a passenger van.
But, what about the floor? I need something waterproof, like if I spill 14 gallons in there I do not have to worry about the water going under the flooring and becoming mold (again). I like the idea of carpet for how it feels on bare feet, however, I realize carpet is NOT suited for my daily living, and honestly if i put a rug in there and covered it in pillows that's pretty awesome, too.
Any ideas on a truly waterproof flooring? Should I fill the floor corrugations with floor leveler and seal it with some kind of floor sealer? Drill holes in the floor for drainage? My water tank recently sprung a leak and I suddenly had gallons of water soaking into everything so that is a possibility and I have no room down below for an underside tank.
Any help is appreciated... And is there a good way to seal the plywood I have holding the top of the topper to the bottom section? I think there is mold there.